Sahara really is something truly special

I bet you can probably already guess who my favorite character in the story is....THAT'S RIGHT, it is Sahara herself. Sahara's comments and remarks remind me of the outspoken personality that I have. In Sahara's Special, Sahara pretty much just always says what is on her mind without any thought. Sometimes it can be dangerous or sometimes it can be hurtful to her. I think that the principal, Mr. Darryl has no idea what Sahara is going through. During the story, sometimes I get angry because I'm constantly yelling in my head "Only if you understood". Sahara is only in elementary school and she has already had a difficult life. Her parents are divorced and she constantly has negative energy surrounding her.

As far as the special program goes, I think Sahara is just being an outspoken girl. If someone took the time at her school to listen to her instead of always putting her in the hallway, I think they would be surprised at how bright and intelligent she really is. She definitely has a strong passion for writing and I really hope that her work behind the 940's section of the library gets discovered sometime later in the story. I also would like to see Sahara become the "hero" instead of the "suspect" at the end of the story. That would truly make a happy ending of the life of the girl in the hallway.

Six-Geese-A-Laying?!

I must say that I was surprised to learn that there are SIX language arts. If I were to guess how many language arts there was without reading the text, I would think of the Fantastic Four: Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening. But when I dig deeper and think about my first days as a student, Visually Representing and Viewing played a huge role in my education. As a child in elementary school, I would love it when my teacher would show films and allow us to create illustrations to better understand a lesson.

If Visually Representing and Viewing were left out of the language arts mix, then I believe that we would be leaving artistically talented students out. If a child has a stronger Musical or Spacial Intelligence, then reading and writing are not going to be the first thing to appeal to them. I also believe that we should accept the two additional language arts is because technology is what shapes and holds our world together in today's society. Not only do we utilize technology for personal purposes, but we also use it for educational purposes, such as blogs like this one!

In my experiences, I can honestly say that my language arts learning preferences have changed tremendously over the years. When I was in elementary school, I was an artsy bug and I loved to draw and create what I like to call "educational masterpieces". In particular, art helped me to better understand mathematics. The teacher could go on for days about addition and if I was not allowed to visually see it or draw pictures, the concept would continue to be irrelevant to me. Drawing three ants and adding three more helped me to understand that 3+3 was really 6. When I moved on to middle and high school, listening and speaking became my forte. If I was allowed to talk my way through things or listen to solutions to a geometry conflict, my comprehension of that concept was improved. I can remember in eighth grade when my mom hired a geometry tutor for me, my grade improved tremendously. I even received an award for the highest math class average that year. THANK YOU AMY! Now that I am a college student, writing is my favorite language art. When I write, it almost seems that I can never stop. Writing allows me to execute information and express my emotions in ways that I can understand.

As you can see, language arts has always had a special place in my education world. And as I embark on a journey of a lifetime as a teacher, I will try to the best of my ability to make this magical component a part of my students' lives forever...

P.S. "Six-Geese-A-Laying comes from the Nursery Rhyme, "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

Pura vida.

Howler monkeys...rice and beans...una hamocka...la familia de Morales-Bonilla...el instituto...pura vida. When I reflect back on the best two months of my life, these particular words often come to my mind. To get things started, I am a Psychology/Spanish double major at Meredith College with a ESL (English as a Second Language) licensure. This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity of studying abroad in Costa Rica for two months. Honestly, since the day I departed from the San Jose airport, there has not been a day that goes by that I think of Costa Rica and all of the experiences I enjoyed there. I met some of the most amazing people there and learned a vast of life lessons. I snorkeled with reef sharks, planted 175 trees in one morning, and ziplined through one of the biggest rainforests in the entire world. I also learned that "tico time" is the best time. Often in Costa Rica, people refer to "tico time". Basically, tico time means no worries...things will occur on their own time. During my time in Costa Rica, I participated in two study abroad programs. I completed the Language and Culture portion the first 4.5 weeks I was there, and bravely took on the Biology portion the remaining 3 weeks. During the Language and Culture part, I lived in a homestay in San Joaquin de Flores with a great family. I had a host mom, two younger sisters, and three funny dogs. Thanks to the homestay, my progress on being bilingual has increased greatly. I also felt loved and supported from my real family and my host family while I was there. Throughout the Biology program, I lived in a variety of places. I thought I would never have seen so many forms of diversified wildlife while I was there, but I was wrong. I saw sloths about 2x a week and it was amazing. Costa Rica has enriched me as a human being and as a future teacher. I feel like I can now relate to my future students and share my endless stories of adventures with them. Costa Rica...forever in my heart...and always on my mind.